Everyone has heard of the importance of estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast cancer–but how many of you have heard of the possible role of androgen receptors (AR) in breast cancer?
I have a particular interest in this subject as we published an article several years ago that found AR positivity in 49% of estrogen receptor [...]
A study to be released in the November 1 issue of the journal Cancer took a retrospective look at 110 patients with invasive cancer who were involved in a clinical trial on the use of partial breast irradiation (PBI) vs. whole breast irradiation.
Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common type of breast cancer after invasive carcinoma, no special type (NST). However, there are several subtypes of ILC, with the pleomorphic variant getting a lot of attention because most studies suggest it behaves in a more aggressive manner than typical ILC. Pathologists also recognize other variants [...]
One of the reasons I started this site was to make sure that patients had appropriate information about the pathology behind their breast biopsy diagnosis. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there which has recently come to my attention, thanks to friends and colleagues who I’ve spoken with.
I have found that there [...]
The current dogma in the breast community is that a patient with a diagnosis of atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) on needle core biopsy needs to have that area removed surgically. This is because most studies showed that in about 20-30% of the time a more significant lesion was seen on the surgical excision, such as [...]
I wanted to take some time to write about one of the most challenging areas in breast pathology and one that I receive countless questions about–distinguishing atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) from ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). While this may seem like an academic issue that doctors argue about it has MAJOR clinical implications for [...]
I have received quite a lot of questions about lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) and I am glad that patients are finally drawing more attention to this disease. Since I started my career in breast pathology this has been one of the most interesting areas of breast cancer research for me. Finally, more attention is [...]
Most patients who undergo a breast biopsy or have breast surgery never get to know a very important member of their health care team-the doctor who gave them their diagnosis–the pathologist.
It’s relatively easy to find out who that person is by simply checking the bottom of your pathology report. Most hospitals nowadays have websites where [...]
I’m sure most of you have heard of stem cells and how researchers are trying to study them to cure a variety of diseases. Many of you may not know that stem cells were identified in the breast in 2003 and researchers are trying to determine their role in breast cancer development.
A few months ago, [...]
I have uploaded the Tutorial on Breast Pathology, Part II which covers the basics of invasive carcinoma. As with the other tutorials it is in pdf format. Please feel free to comment or post suggestions for future articles. I hope you find this information useful.
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